Model Local Educational Agency
Special Education
Policies and Procedures
Revised July 2016
Tony Evers, State Superintendent
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Definitions 2
Full Educational Opportunity Goal 16
Free Appropriate Public Education 17
General
Hearing Aids and External Components of Surgically Implanted Devices
Physical Education
Assistive Technology
Extended School Year
Participation in Assessments
Methods of Ensuring a Free Appropriate Public Education
Public Information 20
Child Find 21
General
Referral
IEP Team 22
Participants
IEP Team Attendance
Parent Participation in IEP Team Meetings
IEP Team Duties
Timeline
Evaluation 26
General
Initial Evaluations
IEP Team Determination of Eligibility or
Continuing Eligibility (Initial and Reevaluation)
Reevaluation
Evaluation Report
Evaluation Safeguards
Additional Requirements for Specific Learning Disabilities
Determination of Eligibility 33
Areas of Impairment 34
Autism
Intellectual Disability
Emotional Behavioral Disability
Hearing Impairment
Specific Learning Disability
Orthopedic Impairment
Other Health Impairment
Significant Developmental Delay
Speech and Language Impairment
Traumatic Brain Injury
Visual Impairment
Developing, Reviewing and Revising an IEP 45
IEP in Effect
IEP Development 46
IEP Review and Revision 47
Amendments to the IEP 47
IEP Content 48
Placement 49
Least Restrictive Environment
Notice of Placement
Consent for Placement
Parent Revocation of Consent 51
Related Services: Physical and Occupational Therapy 52
Physical Therapists’ Licensure and Service Requirements
School Physical Therapist Assistants’ Qualifications and
Supervision of Physical Therapy
Occupational Therapists’ Licensure and Service Requirements
Delegation and Supervision of Occupational Therapy
Responsibility of a School Occupational Therapist
School Occupational Therapy Assistants’ Qualifications and Supervision
Transition from Birth to 3 Programs 55
Transfer Pupils 55
In-State Transfer Students
Out-of-State Transfer Students
Transmittal of Records
Charter Schools 56
Due Process Procedures 57
Opportunity to Examine Records and Parent Participation in Meetings
Notice
Procedural Safeguards Notice
Independent Educational Evaluations
Surrogate Parents
Mediation
Due Process Hearings
Transfer of Rights at Age of Majority
Discipline Procedures 63
Authority of School Personnel
Placement in Interim Alternative Educational Settings
Manifestation Determination Reviews
Placement During Appeals
Protections for Children Not Yet Eligible For Special Education and
Related Services
Confidentiality of Information 69
Notice to Parents
Access Rights
Amendment of Records at Parent's Request
Consent
Safeguards
Destruction of Information
Transfer of Confidentiality Rights at Age of Majority
Children With Disabilities Enrolled in Private Schools by Their Parents 72
Child Find
Provision of Services
Expenditures
Consultation
Equitable Services Determined
Equitable Services Provided
Location of Services and Transportation
Requirement that Funds not Benefit a Private School
Use of Personnel
Separate Classes Prohibited
Property, Equipment, and Supplies
Parentally Placed Children in Private Schools when FAPE is at Issue
Children with Disabilities in Private Schools Placed or Referred
by the Local Educational Agency 78
Development, Review, and Revision of the IEP
Children in Residential Care Centers . 79
Placement Disputes; School Board Referrals; Interagency Cooperation 80
Local Educational Agency Reporting to State 81
Appendix of Federal law and regulations referenced in the Model Policies
and Procedures 83
iii
Model Local Educational Agency Special Education
Policies and Procedures
Preface
As a condition of funding under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), local educational agencies are required to establish written policies and procedures for implementing federal special education laws. In addition, Wisconsin law requires local educational agencies to establish written policies and procedures for implementing state and federal special education requirements. Model Local Educational Agency Special Education Policies and Procedures has been developed to help local educational agencies meet their obligation to establish and implement special education requirements. A local educational agency may establish special education requirements by adopting the model policies and procedures. The document may also be used as a reference tool and for staff development activities to promote understanding of and compliance with special education requirements.
The state special education statutes, subchapter V, chapter 115, Wis. Stats., incorporate the statutory provisions of Part B of the IDEA. Local educational agencies in Wisconsin must also comply with IDEA’s regulations. Therefore, the model policies and procedures are derived primarily from Wisconsin special education statutes and IDEA regulations. A small number of policies and procedures are derived from Wisconsin special education rules, chapter PI 11, Wis. Admin. Code. The underlying law can be found by using the following tools:
1. the table of contents to the IDEA Regulations found at 34 CFR Part 300, Vol. 71 Federal Register, No. 156 (August 14, 2006);
2. the table of contents of the state special education statute, Subchapter V, Chapter 115, Wis. Stats.; and
3. the table of contents for the state special education rules, Chapter PI 11, Wis. Admin. Code.
Definitions
For the purpose of these policies, the following definitions apply:
· "Assistive technology device" means any item, piece of equipment or product system that is used to increase, maintain or improve the functional capabilities of a child with a disability. The term does not include a medical device that is surgically implanted, or the replacement of that device.
34 CFR § 300.5.
· "Assistive technology service" means any service that directly assists a child with a disability in the selection, acquisition or use of an assistive technology device, including all of the following:
Ø evaluating the needs of the child, including a functional evaluation of the child in the child’s customary environment;
Ø purchasing, leasing or otherwise providing for the acquisition of assistive technology devices by children with disabilities;
Ø selecting, designing, fitting, customizing, adapting, applying, maintaining, repairing or replacing assistive technology devices;
Ø coordinating and using other therapies, interventions or services with assistive technology devices, such as those associated with existing education and rehabilitative plans and programs;
Ø training or technical assistance for a child with a disability or, if appropriate, the child’s family; and
Ø training or technical assistance for professionals, including individuals providing education and rehabilitation services, employers or other individuals who provide services to, employ or are otherwise substantially involved in the major life functions of that child.
34 CFR § 300.6
· "Business day" means Monday through Friday, except for federal and state holidays unless holidays are specifically included in the designation of business day.
34 CFR § 300.11
· “Charter school” means a school under contract with a school board under Wis. Stat. § 118.40, or with one of the entities under Wis. Stat. § 118.40(2)(2r)(b), or a school established and operated by one of the entities under Wis. Stat. §§ 118.40(2r)(b), 115.001(1).
· "Child" means any person who is at least three years old but not yet 21 years old and who has not graduated from high school and, for the duration of a school term, any person who becomes 21 years old during that school term and who has not graduated from high school, and includes a child who is homeless, a child who is a ward of the state, county, or child welfare agency, and a child who is attending a private school.
Wis. Stat. § 115.76(3)
· "Child with a disability" means a child who, by reason of any of the following, needs special education and related services:
Ø intellectual disabilities;
Ø hearing impairments;
Ø speech or language impairments;
Ø visual impairments;
Ø emotional behavioral disability;
Ø orthopedic impairments;
Ø autism;
Ø traumatic brain injury;
Ø other health impairments; and/or
Ø specific learning disabilities.
If the local educational agency determines through an appropriate evaluation that a child has one of the impairments listed above but only needs a related service and not special education, the child is not a child with a disability. "Child with a disability" may, at the discretion of the local educational agency and consistent with Department of Public Instruction rules, include a child who, by reason of his or her significant developmental delay, needs special education and related services.
34 CFR § 300.8; Wis. Stat. §115.76(5)
· "Consent" means:
Ø the parent has been fully informed of all information relevant to the activity for which consent is sought, in his or her native language, or other mode of communication;
Ø the parent understands and agrees in writing to the carrying out of the activity for which his or her consent is sought, and the consent describes that activity and lists the records (if any) that will be released and to whom; and
Ø the parent also understands the granting of consent is voluntary on the part of the parent and may be revoked at any time. If a parent revokes consent, that revocation is not retroactive (i.e. it does not negate an action that has occurred after the consent was given and before the consent was revoked).
34 CFR §300.9
· "Controlled substance" means a drug or other substance identified under schedules I, II, III, IV, or V in section 202(c) of the Controlled Substance Act [21U.S.C. 812(c)].
34 CFR § 300.530(i)(1)
· “Core academic subjects” means English, reading or language arts, mathematics, science, foreign languages, civic and government, economics, arts, history, and geography.
34 CFR § 300.10
· "Day" means calendar day unless otherwise indicated as business day or school day.
34 CFR § 300.11
· "Destruction," as used in the section on confidentiality in these policies, means physical destruction or removal of personal identifiers from information so the information is no longer personally identifiable.
34 CFR § 300.611(a)
· "Division" means the Division for Learning Support: Equity and Advocacy in the Department of Public Instruction.
Wis. Stat. § 115.76(6)
· "Education records" means the type of records covered under the definition of "education records" set forth in the regulations implementing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974. See Appendix.
34 CFR § 300.611(b)
· “Elementary school” means a nonprofit institutional day or residential school, including a public elementary charter school that provides elementary education, as determined under State law. State law defines elementary grades as including K4-8th grade.
34 CFR § 300.13; Wis. Stat. § 115.01(2)
· “Equipment” means machinery, utilities, and built-in equipment, and any necessary enclosures or structures to house the machinery, utilities, or equipment; and all other items necessary for the functioning of a particular facility as a facility for the provision of educational services, including items such as instructional equipment and necessary furniture; printed, published and audio-visual instructional materials; telecommunications, sensory, and other technological aids and devices; and books, periodicals, documents; and other related materials.
34CFR § 300.14
· "Evaluation" means procedures used to determine whether a child has a disability and the nature and extent of the special education and related services the child needs.
34 CFR § 300.15
· "Extended school year services" means special education and related services that are provided to a child with a disability and meet the standards of the State of Wisconsin. These services are provided beyond the normal school year of the local educational agency, in accordance with the individualized education program (IEP), and at no cost to the parents of the child.
30 CFR § 300.106(b)
· "Free appropriate public education" means special education and related services that are provided at public expense and under public supervision and direction, and without charge, meet the standards of the Department of Public Instruction, include an appropriate preschool, elementary or secondary school education; and are provided in conformity with an IEP.
30 CFR § 300.17; Wis. Stat. § 115.76(7)
· "General curriculum" means the same curriculum as for nondisabled children.
34CFR § 300.320(a)(1)(i)
· "Hearing officer" means an independent examiner appointed to conduct due process hearings under Wis. Stat. § 115.80.
Wis. Stat. § 115.76(8).
· "Highly Qualified Teacher" means that a person has met the Department of Public Instruction’s approved or recognized certification, licensing, registration in which he/she is providing special education or related services, consistent with provision 34 CFR § 300.18.
· “Homeless children” has the meaning given the term homeless children and youths in section 725 (42 U.S.C. 11434(a)) of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. 11431 et seq. See Appendix.
34 CFR § 300.19
· "Illegal drug" means a controlled substance but does not include such a substance that is legally possessed or used under the supervision of a licensed healthcare professional or that is legally possessed or used under any other authority under federal law.
34 CFR §300.530(i)(2)
· "Include" means that the items named are not all of the possible items that are covered whether like or unlike the ones named.
34 CFR § 300.20
· "Independent educational evaluation" means an evaluation conducted by a qualified examiner who is not employed by the public agency responsible for the education of the child in question.
34 CFR § 300.502
· "Individualized education program" (IEP) means a written statement for a child with a disability that is developed, reviewed and revised in accordance with Wis.Stat. § 115.787, and 34 CFR §§ 330.320 through 300.324.
34 CFR § 300.22; Wis. Stat. §115.76(9)
· “IEP Team” means a group of individuals described in Wis. Stat. § 115.78 that is responsible for evaluating the child to determine the child’s eligibility or continued eligibility for special education and related services and the educational needs of the child; developing, reviewing, or revising an IEP for the child; and determining the special education placement for the child.
34 CFR § 300.23; Wis. Stat. § 115.78
· “Limited English Proficiency” has the meaning given the term in section 9101 (25) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA).
· "Local educational agency," except as otherwise provided, means
Ø the school district in which the child with a disability resides,
Ø when the child attends a nonresident school district under Wis. Stat. § 118.51 (open enrollment) or § 121.84(1)(a) or (4) (tuition waiver), the district of attendance;
Ø the Department of Health and Family Services if the child with a disability resides in an institution or facility operated by the Department of Health and Family Services; or
Ø the Department of Corrections if the child with a disability resides in a Type 1 secured correctional facility, as defined in Wis. Stat. § 938.02(19), or a Type 1 prison, as defined in Wis. Stat. § 301.01(5).